Care
by sauce.e.writes
Summary: (Sonadow Short Chapter Story) Rated T for mild violence and cussing. Simply, this is a short story about two hedgehogs, how their relationship started, then later a mock battle and some fluff. Should be around 3 chapters when finished, takes place around Sonic Heroes time maybe, but for sure after Adventure 2.(edit: third chapter will never be finished, sorry :(
1. Watching After

Chapter One: Watching After

xoxox

Droning away with propaganda and advertisements, the small, outdated television in front of the two hedgehogs lit the fronts of their faces and figures. It was Friday evening, a night for all to celebrate the end of the work week. The atmosphere in the living space of Tails's workshop, however, was a bit too heavy to call a holiday. One of the hedgehogs stared at the television with blank uninterest, more stoic than usual. His scleras and face were tinted blue in the electric glow, and his black ears were half-flattened, completing the prominent attitude that was Shadow.

The other attempted the same stature, although was failing miserably, adjusting the way he laid on the couch every handful of minutes. His short blue tail and ears were twitching in almost-worry, his half-spiked quills digging into the already-torn couch backing. There was subtle anticipation on his features, painted on by a generally uneventful week, world-domination-attempt-wise. And, perhaps, something else.

There _was_ one event that had occurred between the hedgehogs that was creating the blue one's obvious discomfort, and the black one's carefully hidden breeze of thoughts and anxieties.

xoxox

The previous Tuesday, Eggman had attacked a small city of Mobius, chosen specifically for its' location. It was a beach, leading out into a massive lake. He had brought a small fleet of aquatically designed robots with him, a problem that Sonic had called extra allies for. Because for once, the evil "genius" had remembered Sonic's one true weakness; water.

The battle had been tough for the blue hedgehog. Not because Eggman was a challenging opponent, hell no. The mad scientist was ninety-nine times out of one-hundred easy for Sonic to pummel, even in a matter of minutes, with no help from anyone. This particular battle was tough because the Hero of Mobius couldn't fight back.

Eggman had planted his airship far enough over the lake for Sonic to not be able to access by jumping, and he was sending wave after wave of enemies towards the shore where the hedgehog paced frantically. As if that wasn't enough trouble for him, the villain also was sending out energy attacks created via Chaos Emerald and bombs from his airship constantly, with Sonic stuck dodging frantically across the sand. He felt helpless. He knew Tails wouldn't be able to fly the Tornado out over the open lake without getting shot down immediately, so that was out. No one from Team Sonic had an ability strong and fast enough to get the blue one to Eggman without swimming, so, in a last ditch attempt, Sonic had called Team Dark.

The two teams were in friendly terms the last time they had met, but something had felt a bit different during the Tuesday co-op battle. Shadow was, seemingly, concerned for the allied teams' safety. Which was strange to say the least, he usually appeared to barely care for his own teammates' lives. Along with that, he surprisingly opted to stay on the shore with a certain frustrated blue hedgehog.

Shadow had said the reason was that his "personal" Chaos Emerald was taken by none other than the genius they were trying to take down, but Sonic had seen the black hedgehog Chaos Control without the help of an Emerald many times before. It always took almost all of his Chaos Energy out of him when he had to, unless there was an Emerald relatively close to him… which there was, Eggman had one at the moment… so it was possible and definitely an option in the circumstance. Let alone, Shadow had Chaos-fueled jet skates that would give him the boost he needed to get across… right? And, at least to Sonic's knowledge, Shadow was fine with water...

Shadow had never left the shore, and although a bit confused, the blue hedgehog didn't mind a bit. He had been dodging for at least fifteen minutes straight. Although not even close to physically tired, his mind was. It was mentally penalizing for Sonic to stand idly by while his friends risked their lives for Mobius.

Furthermore, there was an added factor into all of this… Several times, Sonic had caught the ebony hedgehog glancing his way, as if there was something to watch, spectate, even protect. It was strange behavior to contrast the uninterested, cold Shadow he was used to. Even during the battle, Rouge, while taking a breather on the shore and speaking to Sonic, had revealed that her team leader had been shutting himself into his designated room at the Team Dark base more frequently. He allegedly always gave the excuse that he "needed thinking time to himself." Something was obviously plaguing Shadow's mind, and good or bad, Sonic wanted to find out. He didn't have to wait long for an answer…

It was half an hour into the battle, and the addition of Team Dark had turned the slow losing battle into a fast progression of everyone giving their all, hitting harder, and dodging faster because they felt the tides change in their favor. The feeling was unmistakable.

On the shore, Sonic and Shadow seemed to be doing fine. They exchanged battle one-liners, the energy akin, but more positive from when they were faced against each other in space near the ARK all that time ago. The two shouted out instinctively at close calls, warned the other of incoming attacks. The Ultimate Lifeform was, somewhat intensely now, watching the back of the blue blur as he pulled complicated and appealing jumps to avoid being hit.

Everything was smooth until Eggman seemed to realize he was now losing. Smugly pulling out a trump card at a last second, as he so often did, was usually just added fun for the blue hedgehog. This time, it had been an unwanted change of pace to the hedgehogs' nimble dodging spree.

A long-armed robotic claw had protruded from the distant airship, coming closer at high velocity. Sonic was in the middle of a mid-air twist to avoid a small artificial Chaos Spear thrown his way, thus his back was turned away from the lake for a split second. A second was all it took for the claw to roughly grab him by the midriff and yank him out of midair, towards the airship and the deep, lapping water. With a violent jolt, Sonic exclaimed "What the-!" at the cold, sharp talons scraping the skin under his fur as they latched around his form. He saw the land beneath him turn to a murky blue, felt the wind tearing through his quills, and heard Shadow hoarsely yell an exclamation of "No!" before feeling a wave of fear surging up from the pit of his stomach.

Sonic didn't even get a chance to scream out before the claw plunged him into the deep water. All around him, he felt the suffocating, heavy liquid closing in on his form, his eyes wide open and burning. A panic like a warning siren set into him to couple with the fear. He moved his legs as fast as he could, he flailed his arms helplessly, all to no avail. He felt his chest tightening, his head began to ache from pressure as he was dragged deeper into the lake… There was a dense haziness beginning to coat the hedgehog's senses... His limbs failed to move any more… Everything began to darken… His lungs screamed for air… Was this an ending?

Without warning, the claw that was forcing him deeper into the lake snapped open from his body and retracted back to the surface, leaving his body adrift. Sonic feebly opened his eyes to see it ascending… and saw another shape coming closer to him along with it. His eyes wearily closed once again, just in time for the hedgehog to feel a sudden, firm hold of his forearm. Then, another arm wrapped around his torso, and the first hand adjusted itself. Sonic felt a bit of movement, and then he lost control of the breath he was holding to the water, everything becoming numb at once.

'_No… Shit! Stay with me… please, Chaos…' _was not the only thought running through Shadow's head as he witnessed the air leaving Sonic's mouth in bubbles, the blue quilled head drifting back as his consciousness was lost. The dark hedgehog kicked his legs harder through the resistance of the liquid, not willing to give up. How he wished his skates worked this far underwater… though he was lucky enough with not having to breath like a normal lifeform, being able to hold his breath for minutes on end without panicking.

The surface came closer by the second, the light from above tantalizingly close. The final efforts were made, and the two were met with air, Shadow lifting Sonic's dead weight to the surface. Shadow blinked and panted, frantically looking up at everyone who had stopped fighting out of concern for the two hedgehogs. The dark one's ruby eyes met the teal ones of a particular bat, and he called out to her.

"Rouge! I know you are trained in CPR," He began, his voice hoarse with added volume and physical strain, "...I need you to save the faker,"

Rouge looked taken aback and mildly confused. "I have a few questions… but they're not for now," The common, suave smile, although tainted with worry, returned to her face as she descended towards her teammate. "3 years of babysitting classes better not fail me now…"

Lifting Sonic by his underarms and then switching to bridal style, the bat began hastily carrying him to the shore, her wings working harder with the added weight.

Close enough to the surface for them to work, Shadow began focusing his Chaos Energy into his jet skates, causing them to flare up and push him into the air. His entire form was dripping and his quills were drooping slightly from the weight of the water, yet that didn't make the unmistakable cold anger on his face any less frightening.

His skates siphoning a relatively large amount of energy from him due to being airborne, Shadow boosted towards Eggman's airship, hovering inches above the water as he traveled. Once the dark hedgehog was a few feet from the mad scientist, he stopped.

"Doctor…" Shadow said out in an almost rueful manner, the smirk on his face and his closed eyes hiding a burning rage.

Eggman grinned right back at the opposition. "Oh, if it isn't Shadow the Hedgehog! Have you come back to reclaim your l-"

"Let's just make this quick, Doctor." The ebony hedgehog boldly cut him off, spitting his name a second time for emphasis. "I didn't want to do this today because of… more personal reasons, but I've been pushed to it by none other than you."

The Ultimate Lifeform turned his head slightly for a split second and made a very subtle "back away" motion with his gloved hand, flicking his burning gaze into the remaining three member's eyes. He saw the fox boy and the echidna nod slightly and begin to back away, along with Omega.

"Watch this, Dr. Robotnik," Shadow remarked, almost excitedly.

"Wait, what are you-" Eggman sputtered.

With that, Shadow gathered the remaining Chaos Energy within him to his core.

The hedgehog then shouted those two familiar words.

"Chaos Blast!"

It was a weak one, but at such close proximity to Eggman, plus all the previous damage done to the airship, it was just enough. The shockwave radiated out of Shadow's body and struck the airship, finally disabling its communications to the aquatic robots and shutting down the airship's own annoying avalanche of attacks at the shore. Smoke erupted from the motherboard as the machine choked and rattled, matching Dr. Eggman's struck expression. It quickly revolted to rage and the mad genius barked out, "This won't be the last battle we have, Shadow Robotnik! I will be back!" His face suddenly turning to a loving and caring, but obvious facade, he added, "Oh, don't worry… I'll keep your _precious_ Emerald nice and warm for you… Toodles!" Letting out a frighteningly mad-sounding laugh, the Doctor started up his airship once more and clunkily hovered off to the other side of the lake.

Suddenly feeling very drained as the Chaos Emerald in Eggman's ship moved farther from him, Shadow quickly skated across the water back to the shore, the others following him in subtle awe and newfound respect. It was when the blue figure on the shore became within detail distance that the dark one remembered one of the reasons why he was feeling so damn tired in more ways than one.

Speeding up as the cobalt form caught his eye, he glided to the shore and immediately belined to Sonic. The Hero of Mobius was currently laying on the sand, his wet fur darker a shade or two and plastered to his lithe muscles, his eyes closed, seemingly blissfully. A spike of… a mostly foreign emotion to Shadow, buried within his memories on the ARK, drove through his thoughts. There was a closer observation, and the peach chest was seen roughly and meekly rising and falling.

Rouge was kneeling next to Sonic, her usually reckless and confident eyes tainted with worry. "He… I was able to revive him…" She started, her voice low, "But after he started breathing again he just... passed right back out, and I couldn't wake him again… I think something might be…" the bat looked up into her teammates eyes, her eyes glazed with… worry? "Off… about him? _Please_ try to wake him up, Shads?" Rouge looked at him with that somewhat pouty, asking smile, coated this time with hope.

Shadow sighed slightly, his still wet gloves pinching between his closed eyes. "I'll… see what I can do. Thank you, Rouge." He added as she stood up slowly and started walking over to Omega.

"C'mon, faker…" Shadow muttered to the half alive form of the blue blur as he kneeled by him, unsure of what to do. The dark hedgehog had awkwardly tried a medley of techniques on Sonic: talking into his ear, and then yelling, punching his arm lightly, pinching his cheeks, slapping him, rolling him over, splashing lake water on his face, even tickling him, (which was much out of the dark one's comfort zone, so he had to be desperate…) Nothing seemed to be working.

Out of ideas, Shadow let himself think as he paced the wet sand around Sonic's body, his ears flattened in distress. Feeling himself begin to breath faster under the stress, he closed his eyes… and a small idea tugged at his thoughts.

If Sonic had swallowed any water, which he certainly had, it would definitely be in his stomach. That water needed to be out of his system, and the reflex of forcefully vomiting due to a punch in the gut would wake anyone, Shadow concluded. At the time, the remedy had seemed believable to the violent hedgehog.

Kneeling again at the side of the cobalt body in a way so he had a good angle over the peach belly, Shadow pulled back his fist. "This isn't like me… but… sorry about this, Sonic…" he muttered lowly to himself as he gave the opposing hedgehog a heavy pound to the stomach, Sonic immediately bolting up in reflex, his eyes snapping open.

It worked!

Shadow backed up warily as his faker quickly pulled himself to his hands and knees and threw up a surprising amount of water. After he was finished, Sonic scooted away from the sand patch he had vomited on and sat down weakly, his head fuzzily twirling and his body shivering slightly with the sudden trauma.

"Yo…" the blue blur said sickly and looked over at Shadow with squinted eyes. "What…happened to me? Feels like… like... " he trailed off and rubbed his forehead with a soggy glove.

Shadow moved over to Sonic and took a risk by sitting down on the ground a few feet in front of the other hedgehog. His blood-red eyes averted the other's cloudy emeralds with an only partially-hidden nervousness.

"You… you almost drowned, because of one of Eggman's dirty last resorts," Shadow stated.

If the blue hedgehog were to be drinking anything, he certainly would have done an aggressive spit-take. "What!? A-are you serious?" He suddenly raised his voice, the black hedgehog unflinching.

"Yes. I'm certain," Shadow replied confidently.

"Uh, I'm sure that if I almost drowned, I would remember it," Sonic asserted with a tone.

The dark one certainly had been thinking differently of his blue counterpart the past few weeks, but this conversation was beginning to remind him why there was once a deep rivalry between the two. "If your soaking condition doesn't prove anything, then I don't know what to tell you." he shot back, refusing to let his growing irritation show through.

Sonic took a look at himself and glanced back up, and turned his snout to the side a bit. "Yeah, ok, I almost died. Whatever." He looked straight at the dark hedgehog. "Can you at least tell me the epic story of how I cheated death again? Because I apparently blacked out for all of it this time,"

Shadow inwardly gulped, and at the same time was amused. Of course the prideful Hero of Mobius wouldn't admit his greatest fear, even though everyone already clearly knew it. "I don't think you'd wanna hear it, faker. It's not good for your reputation as 'headstrong hero,'" He continued dancing around the subject, wanting to slow down the inevitability of explaining his motives, especially in his opposer's current condition.

"Just tell me, Shadow. It's gonna haunt me forever if you don't," Sonic was clearly getting just as irritated as the hedgehog sitting across from him. Shadow knew he had no choice this time… so he began to recount, very simply, how he had saved the blue hedgehog from the depths of the lake. Sonic's face had been alarmingly blank as he was listening, changing from a subtle listening face to only a tiny bit confused as the striped hedgehog revealed it was he who saved the blue blur. After he was done, there was a moment of silence while both hedgehogs had their eyes plastered at the ground, for different reasons.

"...Why?" Sonic finally spoke up, and it was the question the other was dreading. Luckily, Shadow had an excuse at the ready.

"No one can hold their breath underwater as long as I can," he said a bit too quickly for his liking. Damnit, the quickness made it a blatant lie to the real motives he had, a true and honest fact as it was.

The blue hedgehog shot a disbelieving glance at the black one, one eye ridge pressed down in sarcasm, emeralds gaining back their playful sparkle. He didn't even have to say anything to make his ebony counterpart uncharacteristically squirm at his accusing glare. Shadow's eyes darted back and forth, something obviously begging to be said.

This went on for a moment or two before the Ultimate Lifeform decided that the escape had become futile, Sonic's relentless emerald eyes reading his body language like a book.

"I did it because…" Shadow let out an exasperated breath, and inhaled again. "Because I care for you…" The dark one squinted his eyes closed, ever so afraid of the response he would get and already hectically considering what to do in the face of sure rejection.

Although, keeping his eyes closed prevented him from seeing the utterly shocked and priceless face of Sonic the Hedgehog, the azure hero not sure how to feel when one of his guiltiest and most denied dreams had just come true.

"Shadow…" the blue one said softly and carefully.

The dark hedgehog opened his eyes a crack, quickly scanning Sonic's face for any signs of anger, disgust, confusion… and he got… a smile? Shadow's gaze widened and he was met with a happy grin stretched over a peach muzzle, green eyes filled with an emotion he hadn't seen in them before. Suddenly, the damp blue body lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the black one's torso.

"I… I care for you too!" Sonic replied, only now somewhat uncertain of the context of "care" in this situation.

Everything was confirmed when Shadow returned the sudden embrace, and, in a tone he had never heard before, nearly whispered in Sonic's ear;

"In a… a 'love' kind of way… right?" the ebony hedgehog asked, the nervousness so unusual to hear in his husky voice, the words seeming foreign on his tongue.

"Of course, Shads," Sonic replied warmly.

And thus had begun their relationship. Naturally, the other team members were intrigued at first Shadow's behavior, and then the rescue, and then the hug. It was an awkward reveal, and it was a bit shocking for all of them. Merely a week ago the two could've been considered not-so-friendly rivals, and now look at them.

The two hedgehogs had talked for a while afterwards, taking their sweet time getting home for the very purpose of it. It was revealed that secretly, Sonic had always thought Shadow was attractive, since some of the very first spars between the two. The cold standoffish-ness, the raw strength, the protective ruby gaze that could slice you in two. Not to mention the toned, slim muscle the hedgehog possessed under his sleek, thick midnight fur. The only reason that Sonic had said absolutely nothing about it, not even letting himself think it was a possibility, was because he was _so sure _that Shadow did not swing his way.

Imposingly, Shadow's attraction to the blue blur was more recently formed. More and more the black hedgehog had found himself thinking about his so called "faker." At first he had thought of it as a longing for an even battle, but more and more it was beginning to feel different. He no longer wanted to hurt Sonic, he instead wanted to keep him from harm's way. Feelings that the Ultimate Lifeform had forgotten how to feel were revealing themselves to him again, each one with a wave of confusion. He didn't know if what he was feeling was right, or normal, and frankly, he was a little scared. It had been _so long _since Shadow had felt emotions like these. That's why he had shut himself away, it was for honest thinking time.

At the end of their walk home, all had been explained. Everything on both sides was revealed, stories were told, the reasons and evidence pieced together. The love between the two hedgehogs was whole and new to the both of them. It was blissful, and with the resolution of the memory, Sonic was brought back to the present.

xoxox

Brought out of his mind, Sonic's gaze focused and he once again became aware of the dim lighting and bland sitcom in front of him. Glancing over at the other end of the beaten couch, he was pleased to see the object of the memory already looking at him, contentedness glazed over his half-lidded ruby eyes. The blue hedgehog turned his head and body towards his counterpart, and a small smile formed on the other's tan face.

Sonic, without a second for hesitation, inched a foot or so towards Shadow on the couch, and looked over at the ebony hedgehog somewhat expectantly. Not needing further encouragement, the dark one gently moved towards the blue blur, and eventually snaked one arm behind the peach shoulders and under the back quills to pull the blue hedgehog closer. Naturally, Sonic fell into the position, melting slightly into his lover's newfound gentle side.

The two sat like this for what felt like hours but was really minutes, sensing the time go by and idly staring at the glowing screen. Neither was tired, but it felt nice to hold and be held. Nothing was awkward, surprisingly. Both hedgehogs didn't feel inclined to say anything, even though both minds were fuzzily whirling with thoughts and possibilities.

It was then that Sonic, the energetic speedster he was, began to feel the familiar itch in his legs and the restless weight on him once again as traces of the dreamlike state started to vanish from him. It wasn't that he was unhappy, he loved being molded into his midnight counterpart, the blue and black fur meshing beside one another. It was just that he was now full of energy, no longer incapacitated by the memory and stirred from the lack of physical work over the week. He wanted to fight something, something to get rid of all this restlessness. Or, more like some_one._ Especially someone that could compare to him strength-wise.

Blue was able to stand the itch no longer, and he wriggled away gently from Shadow's side, looking the other hedgehog in the eye. A newfound spark had taken residence in the emerald, and the Ultimate Lifeform guessed immediately what Sonic wanted from him.

xoxox

A/N:

Hey guys, please don't punch someone who just drowned in the gut, this is _fiction_. Also, I thought I should mention that this short story will likely end up being three chapters, unless I screw myself over and end up having to split one large one into two or something, or the people really want an encore.

Bet you can guess what's goin' down next chapter. Until then, please review or follow!


	2. Mock Feelings

Chapter Two: Mock Feelings

xoxox

"Shads, I'm boorrrreeed!" The blue hedgehog threw his quilled head back as he complained loudly, his torso twisting in Shadow's arms.

The two had previously been pressed against one another, ebony arms protectively resting over peach shoulders. They had been technically "dating" for a few days now, though neither of them really called it that. The TV continued to murmur in front of them, providing minimal light and background noise.

The dark one wrinkled his snout and scoffed apathetically. "Tch. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Do ya wanna go outside and do something? I need some fresh air." The blue blur quickly freed himself from the other hedgehog's grasp and jumped up from the couch, standing in front of the TV. The light from it outlined his trim figure, his eyes alive and ready for excitement.

Ruby eyes gave the others' slender form a not-so-subtle up-down look on impulse, and Sonic obviously noticed. Responding, the outlined blue hedgehog cocked one knee, threw his head back and put a hand into his quills, behind his head. His gaze turned playful and mock-sultry, his eyelids lowering and a smirk growing on his fawn muzzle.

"Like whatcha' see?" He asked coyly, emphasizing the pose by arching his back a bit more.

Shadow stood up with a huff, trying to ignore the heat he could feel rising to his face at his counterparts' blatant teasing. Looking straight into the sparking emeralds again, he answered the initial question and ignored the flirtatiousness displayed before him.

"How about a mock battle? No bets." he said in his usual husky tone, except it was a bit softer when it was directed at Sonic.

The blue body before him snapped out of the model pose he was previously in and practically jumped into a battle stance, eyes narrowed with a newfound determination. "Sounds good, _faker!_" the last insult was thrown Shadow's way, the tone much more playful than in the past.

In a literal blue blur, the hero was out the door, searching for a suitable battleground for their upcoming spar. The darkness of the Friday night did not stop his motivation, it seemed.

Red streaked quills jostled as the Ultimate Lifeform shook his head in slight amusement, a few low snickers escaping him. Then heading for the door out of the workshop, Shadow locked it before firing up his jet skates and shooting into the night, the light from their fire falling mostly dead on the pavement.

xoxox

The spot Sonic chose was a large patch of ground walled by a cliff on one side, not too far from Tails' workshop. The grass was quite coarse and patchy and more thick by the edges, not quite ideal for traction but far from bad. There was no artificial light, the clearing was instead washed by clear moonlight, said moon at its fullest and brightest without a cloud in sight to restrict it. Additionally, the absence of houses nearby the battleground would _really _allow them to let loose.

As Shadow skated up to where the blue hedgehog was standing, impatiently tapping his foot, the atmosphere seemed to crackle with good-natured anticipation.

"So, ya decided to show up?" Sonic called out to the approaching hedgehog, that ever-appearing grin plastered on the hero's face.

"And you're surprised? You should know I wouldn't miss a chance to beat you around for the world." Shadow retorted as he stopped near the cobalt hedgehog, his voice laced with joking sarcasm.

"Fat chance, imposter. The hero always wins!" The lines flowed off Sonic's tongue naturally, many years of improvising one-liners during battle gracing him with the ability of instant sarcasm.

"Not in this story, blue." Shadow replied simply, but menacingly. The Ultimate Lifeform was right there with him on sass skills, although the black hedgehog had to think a little more about his insults. Stepping closer to the blue blur, Shadow deepened his voice for effect. "At the end of _this_ book, you'll be crushed into _the dirt we're standing on._"

"Well, then it's time to rewrite the ending!" Sonic shouted proudly with style. He froze for a few moments, and then suddenly cast his eyes aside, almost awkwardly, his battle stance faltering. When he looked up again, emotion softened his previously determined gaze as he stepped closer to the ebony hedgehog.

In a softer voice, he asked, "This is just a… a _mock _battle, right Shads? No hard feelings involved?"

Shadow let a small smile through at how quickly the blue hedgehog's demeanor had changed, his gaze also softening. "No hard feelings involved." he confirmed.

Just as quickly as he had softened, Sonic's presentation snapped back to his prior headstrong attitude. "Good. Just one rule though;" He lowered one eye ridge snarkily. "_No chaos attacks._"

"Fine, I suppose that's manageable…" Shadow huffed, clearly displeased, crossing his arms and turning away from Sonic with a small snort.

"Oh, you can Chaos Control if you want, 'cause I know that's pretty much your whole battling style, but no Spears or Blasts, kay?" Sonic walked in front of Shadow to get his point across, his tone slightly scolding. "I don't wanna get seriously hurt tonight just in case something pops up tomorrow, y'know?"

"Yes, ok, fine." Shadow consoled, sounding slightly irritated. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, though." He turned around towards the clearing and adjusted his stance to be a bit more battle ready.

"Wouldn't dream of it, babe." Sonic replied cockily, looking back as he moved to the opposite side of the area.

'_Babe…'_ The midnight hedgehog's thoughts stuck to the pet name for a bit longer than he would of liked. Shaking his head briefly to clear his mind, he reached behind into his curved headquills and pulled out a shiny green gemstone, his temporarily "personal" Chaos Emerald.

The previous Wednesday, Shadow had made a day trip through Eggman's base to get it back. It had been way too easy; a lot of Eggman's defenses had been down because of Team Sonic/Dark's recent co-op win against him the day before. The hedgehog had been able to slip in and retrieve the Emerald undetected, apart from a few meager security robots that he had been able to destroy quite easily.

"Ya ready?" Sonic called to him from the other side of their makeshift battlefield, snapping him out of the memory.

"Always!" Shadow yelled and lunged forward, skates flaring to life with a hiss.

Immediately, Sonic used his speed to jump out of the way. The darker hedgehog expected this, and skidded quickly to a halt, whipping around to look at his target. Rebounding off of the dodge, the blue blur moved towards Shadow and landed a quick, light warning punch on his right forearm before twisting out of reach.

'_Damn, I really need to brush up on my close combat skills again…'_ The dark one thought as he narrowly avoided a swift kick that would've hit him square in the chest.

After a few tries, Shadow was able to land a hit on the blue speedster, punching him in the side of the stomach, just hard enough to set him off balance. Sonic stumbled for only a moment, a look of shock passing his features before beginning his fast attacks once more.

This pattern continued for several moments. The Hero of Mobius would strike out with his abundance of energy and Shadow would dodge to the best of his ability and attempt to counter. Although both were a bit rusty with landing hits, both were familiar with dodging, so it became a battle of who could move faster.

The Ultimate Lifeform knew that he was supposed to be giving his all into this battle to wear himself out, but his blood-red eyes kept meandering back to watching Sonic's every move. The graceful twists, the many spins, the jumps; every complicated stunt the blue hedgehog pulled as an evasion tactic mesmerized the other hedgehog. Perhaps this was the reason he seemed rusty at close combat, was he just distracted by his attraction to the Mobian he was supposed to be battling?

For Sonic's sake, Shadow shook his head and began to truly focus into the fight. Chaos Controlling a few feet, he reappeared behind the blue hedgehog. The dark one wasted no time bolting forward and aiming to land a blow on the blue blur's upper arm. Whipping around at the last second, the targeted hedgehog was able to dodge on a whim, sending Shadow sailing past him. A wave of adrenaline crashed over Sonic's brain at the danger he had been in, and some forgotten, memory-based feeling began to stir inside him.

Continuing the pattern of striking fast as his midnight counterpart recovered, the feeling was growing. He wasn't quite sure what it was until the ebony hedgehog attempted yet another heavy blow at him;

It was his love for fighting Shadow. Sonic loved their same, yet different fighting styles clashing, the numerous close calls, the speed, the strength, the danger, the _challenge_. Shadow was his match when it came to many things, but battling most of all. That was one of the things Sonic loved about him; how the darker hedgehog clearly knew his limits, but he wasn't afraid to face them.

Wait, love…? Did he just subconsciously tell himself that he loves Shadow? Is love too strong a word for having technically dated only 4 days…? Love _must_ be too strong a word… Does Shadow feel the same way… like, serious love? Why d-

A searing pain suddenly jolted through Sonic's left shoulder and broke it's way through the flood of distracting thoughts that had let him get hit in the first place. A yelp of surprise escaped his throat as his feet met the ground, holding his damaged shoulder with his opposite hand. He looked around, aware of his surroundings again, and set his eyes on the midnight colored hedgehog he… he loved, apparently.

Shadow was currently staring down at his right hand, his expression a little shocked but mostly blank and his stance wide, as if he had just landed from a jump. He was just… standing there?

"Yo, Shads, that one kinda hurt… a lot. Maybe back off a little?" Sonic said with a smile although his eye ridges were pressed together in obvious pain.

The blue blur's request fell on deaf ears; his dark counterpart's mind was filled with violent memories. It had been a long time since his fist had met the blue hedgehog that harshly, (even if he hadn't meant to strike quite_ that _hard this time,) and he was remembering all the times it had before.

Shadow was usually for violence of any type, especially when he was the one causing it, but hitting Sonic was different. Back when they were enemies, he had found it rewarding as hell; it felt _so damn good_ to hit something that was moving that fast. The midnight hedgehog's twisted mentality towards violence was causing a sharp but familiar wave to wash over and mask his common sense and morals;

Bloodlust.

Dropping his fist to his side, the Ultimate Lifeform began walking in quick strides towards the blue hero, the piercing red eyes meeting a wary green. There was a strange, burning malice painted over Shadow's features, startling the other hedgehog.

"Hey, Shads?" Sonic began taking a few small steps backwards on instinct, his voice wavering ever so slightly. "No need to look so intimidating…"

The only response the blue speedster received was a sudden and angry yell from Shadow as he lunged at the blue hedgehog, his free hand pulled back into a fist. Dodging almost frantically, Sonic sprung into the air. It seemed that now it was the ebony hedgehog's turn to be on the offensive as he followed the blue blur upwards, striking out several more times. Emeralds met rubies once again, and there was a ferocious burning in their red depths that hadn't been there before.

'_Chaos, I guess Shads is really gettin' into it now!' _The azure hedgehog thought to himself, caught in a denial of growing concern as he twisted in and out of Shadows' range, still airborne.

Only dodging at this point, Sonic could definitely be trying a lot harder to win against his counterpart's newfound aggressions, but he restrained himself from going all out. Because...

It is still a _mock _spar, right?

Back in action, right when Sonic thought there would be a split second to breathe, a midnight arm struck out at his still-throbbing shoulder, rekindling the pain and worsening it twofold. Sucking the air through his teeth so it created a hissing sound, the hero squeezed his eyes shut at the sting, physically recoiling as the two reached the ground again.

Still dazed by the shoulder pain, he felt another punch strike his opposite side, causing him to blindly stumble, and then a strong knee to his stomach that caused him to double over momentarily. Snapping open his eyes to look at his attacker, Sonic found no concern in Shadow's searing gaze, only a desire to hurt.

Recovering quickly to dodge, Sonic moved out of the way from another oncoming kick. For a few more minutes, the two hedgehogs weaved in and out of one another in the exhilarating and deadly dance of battle. The cobalt hero was still holding back on his attacks; was the ebony hedgehog still doing the same? The Ultimate Lifeform shouldn't have to go all out against a Sonic that is fighting at half capacity…

Then why was Shadow being so aggressive?

His peach chest was heaving from taking so many blows and dodging so intensely, his breath coming and going raggedly. His fur was becoming unruly with sweat and dirt, yet Shadow still looked mostly composed, his steady expression creased with… anger?

If Shadow truly loved him, would he be hitting this hard? The more emotional things between the two hedgehogs seemed fine before the battle; now the cobalt hero wasn't so sure. Maybe he was just jumping to conclusions, but something seemed wrong with his counterpart.

"Hey, can we… stop for a sec?" Sonic panted out, many parts of his body aching with blunt force trauma.

Shadow said nothing, only continuing to strike out at the blue blur relentlessly.

"Yo!" Sonic raised his voice to try and break through to his attacker while lurching left and right to dodge. "You do realize this is a _mock _battle, right Shads!?"

The dark hedgehog failed to hear him, apparently. He also seemed to forget about his handicap, a shocking golden light bursting into his free hand. Before Sonic had a chance to stop him, the two words were shouted into the night air.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow screamed, the energy in his gloved palm forming a rod shape and rocketing towards the blue blur. The attack was so close, so unexpected, fast and intense that Sonic didn't even get a chance to react.

His eyes widening in shock and pain, the Spear struck the blue hedgehog square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. His battered body collided with the hard stone of the cliff, a dull thud resonating as Sonic fell to the ground. Various sized sharp rocks created by the impact scored and sliced at his skin and fur, causing drops of red to emerge from the new wounds.

Shadow strided over to the damaged hero, eventually towering over him, that stiff, angered expression never leaving his face.

"Sh-Shads?" Sonic couldn't stop his voice from stuttering as he instinctively backed himself as far against the wall behind him as he could. Forcing a cocky grin over his obvious pain, he tried to prevent the weariness in his voice from sounding through. "What's gotten you all riled up?"

Silence. The blue blur tasted blood on his tongue as he looked up at the cold, unchanging, unhearing expression. The small and large cuts scattered about Sonic's form leaked blood, darkening beautiful blue fur. The skin underneath his peach, finer fur was slick with sweat. His body trembled and his mind whirled.

Why was Shadow being so rough? What had happened sometime during the battle to change him for the worse? Had he been… been tricked by the dark hedgehog? Had the confession just been a carefully constructed ruse to lower his defenses so the dark one could finally take him out? Honestly, he wasn't feeling too well. Why had he let his condition get this bad? The Hero of Mobius was stronger than this!

What was happening, and why?!

A warm, yellow surge of energy flared to life in a gloved palm, the light of it reflecting off of a hesitantly scared emerald and a burning blood-red. Jet skates stepped closer to a bruised and battered body. Time ticked slower, and even the night air seemed to focus on the two hedgehogs in the crucial moment.

"No…" The word slipped from the blue hedgehog's mouth, uselessly defiant. The energy in the standing hedgehog's palm only crackled brighter. The blue blur attempted to move his arms, to poise them for a last second dodge, only to have his body scream at him in agony. Limply laying against the stone like a doll, the damaged hedgehog could almost feel something metaphorical break inside of him, snapping and shattering like a piece of glass. Was that his hope to live, or his trust in others?

Sonic barely realized he was saying the next words as they hoarsely escaped his throat, all frivolity and conviction completely absent from his tone.

"Shadow… please…"

The nickname was shed along with any last pride the hero had left, his voice pleading and unusually docile-sounding.

Something akin to recollection flickered through the Ultimate Lifeform's sharp ruby gaze before it softened and neutralized. His eyes widened slightly, and the pupils shrunk for a moment before growing back to their normal size. The rigid battle stance his body was tensed into faltered, and the half-formed Chaos Spear in his empty hand fizzled out quickly in an array of sparks. The once stoic face softened only a tiny bit, but enough to convey emotion once again.

Red eyes then met with a genuinely fearful green, and the former scanned over the stains, cuts and bruises that adorned the blue hedgehog's body. Shock painted over the dark one's features.

"Wh… did… did I… You..." Shadow stammered, flicking his eyes to Sonic's body, to the unreadable, strained emerald gaze, all around the terrain and then back to Sonic. The ebony hedgehog wasn't one to stutter; did he really not know that the blue blur's condition was mostly his doing?

"What does it look like!?" Sonic suddenly spit back, answering an unsaid question, a new, enraged strength propelling him to attempt straightening his posture despite his body's sharp protests. "Do you think I just _tripped _and got banged up this bad?! Of course it's your doing! There's no one else here!"

Shadow stood in front of the hero, speechless, absolutely bewildered and, admittedly, slightly worried.

"What in Chaos is your problem?! What happened to the _mock _part of _mock battle_, Shads?!" Sonic spread his arms out animatedly, his expression alive with temper. Realizing that the blue hedgehog was waiting for an answer, Shadow attempted to give him one.

"Something happened… to me. I remember the battle, but I don't remember hurting you… hurting you like _this_…" the striped hedgehog looked down at the blue blur with unsure regret. "I apologize for getting… carried away; the intention was not to harm you this intensely..." There was hints of questioning in the husky voice… was he really oblivious to what happened?

Shadow was turned away from Sonic, not wanting to meet the searing emerald gaze.

"It's not like you lack the strength to stop me…" Shadow muttered curtly, almost under his breath but loud enough for two blue, pointed ears to hear it. The Ultimate Lifeform was feeling a bit frustrated at the moment; he had just snapped out of what appears to be a violent trance just to get yelled at by Sonic because said hedgehog was too incompetent to dodge for himself.

Staying turned away, the midnight hedgehog failed to hear the angry, accusing response he expected, let alone any response. The only sound was a low groan from the hedgehog behind him, and the quiet thump and slide of a body sinking to hard ground.

Putting his pride and reputation aside, the ebony hedgehog whipped around again to look at his counterpart. Shadow quickly saw that behind the anger, his counterpart had been fading fast. The blue blur's body was now splayed on the ground limply, his previously livid expression now numb and pained, green eyes blinking and looking around weakly.

Any previous anger the ebony hedgehog was holding to Sonic melted instantaneously as his eyes ran over the drained form. In less than a second, the dark hedgehog was crouching at his side as the other struggled to maintain a grasp on his consciousness.

"Sonic?" The usual harshness of Shadow's voice was gone. Cloudy emerald eyes met a deep ruby, the concern in them no longer allowing itself to be masked by pride. "Are you… alright?"

It was such a naive thing to say; of course the blue hedgehog wasn't "alright." Shadow mentally chided himself for it, and then redirected his attention back to the blue speedster.

"Shads… I…" Sonic began hoarsely, and then was stopped by his eyelids fluttering closed, his exhaustion causing him to lose consciousness. A small, weak groan came from his throat as the last tensions in the blue body were released, making him truly limp.

Alarm washed over the midnight hedgehog's face and senses as he looked down at the barely moving peach chest.

Shadow still wasn't entirely sure as to what was going on, or why he had supposedly brought so much damage to Sonic, but he knew for a fact that the only times the blue blur feinted were when damaged, almost to his limit, or when faced with an ungodly amount of deep, unmerciful water with no shore in sight.

This was one of the former times.

Moving closer to the lithe, battered body, Shadow's gloved hands worked underneath the limp frame and pulled the blue hedgehog up, close to his chest. Adjusting his grip slightly, the midnight hedgehog paid no attention to the red liquid staining his gloves and chest fur as he carried the fallen hero, bridal-style, back to Tails' workshop. His jet skates flaring against the pavement as he skated, clear, blood-red eyes scoured the blue one's features for any signal, any reaction. Anything.

'_Just… hold on…' _Shadow persuaded internally, the plea more as comfort to himself.

xoxox

Setting the damaged hedgehog gingerly on the couch cushions the two were sitting on just half an hour ago, the dark hedgehog looked down at the unconscious, numb features of the Hero of Mobius.

Shadow could feel his heart rate up, not just from the short skate to get back to the workshop, but from the subtle panic his mind was rising to, taking the form of a minor, slowly increasing anxiety at the moment. He paced lightly in front of the couch, metal skates sinking into the plush carpet with every step, ears twitching and rotating nervously.

What had even happened to lead to this? What the hell did he do to Sonic to beat him _unconscious_?! He genuinely remembers nothing except the adrenaline of attacking and being attacked. The next thing he knew, the bruised and battered hedgehog was scolding him for taking it too far? He hadn't meant to bring actual harm to Sonic… not anymore, anyway… So what had forced him to do it? A month or two ago, things would've been different, but this was now...

Speaking of now, Shadow's focus was snapped back to reality when a soft, pained moan resonated from the couch. Rushing back to the side of the sofa, the Ultimate Lifeform crouched down slightly to be level with his counterpart.

"Sonic..?" The dark one's voice seems to call out, the word sounding small.

The blue hedgehog in question failed to stir, or show any signs that his name was heard. The cobalt form laying on the couch was completely unmoving to the naked eye, unless you strained your eyes to see the fawn chest rising and falling, the crucial movement so tiny and weak it was almost unnoticeable.

"Sonic?" There was a little more confidence in the call this time.

Still nothing. No movement, no sound.

Shadow closed his eyes and tilted his head down, letting the blue hedgehog leave his line of sight.

'_This all my fault,' _a soft voice in Shadow's mind spoke through the silence.

'_If I wouldn't of been so damn aggressive in my attacks, this would've never happened…'_

'_But I wasn't in control of my actions…'_

The Ultimate Lifeform took a shaky breath inwards, and then exhaled.

'_That doesn't change the fact that it was still me.'_

Opening his eyes a bit, the dark hedgehog caught sight of his gloves, spattered with a rich red that would eventually progress into a rusty brown.

'_It's just like losing… losing h-her all over again…'_

He balled his fists before looking up at Sonic once more, he watched the other's chest rhythmically rise and fall, the movements growing weaker, weaker, more and more feint…

Thousands of thoughts whirred through Shadow's mind, some of them accusations, some of them screaming, crying, laughing. One spoke louder than them all.

'_Except it's my fault this time.'_

The midnight hedgehog felt a hot pressure building up behind his eyes and in his chest.

He suddenly stood up and roughly grabbed Sonic's peach shoulders, his ruby red pupils blazing madly.

"No, no! Wake up, faker! You're fine! Wake up!" He snarled at the unconscious body, his voice fierce as he shook the hero's shoulders.

Nothing.

Shadow's tough expression faltered for a minute, his eye ridges creasing and ears tilting backwards as a burning sensation pricked at his eyes. The former expression returned slowly as he shouted again.

"I barely touched you! Come on, faker! You're a pathetic excuse for a hedgehog!" The insult wasn't sincere, nor was it jokingly sincere, and the Ultimate Lifeform knew it perfectly well.

"Wake… wake up…"

Sonic's face looked almost peaceful.

'_The last words we said to each other were in an argument…' _Shadow's mind reminded him. Fiery ruby eyes glossed over with wetness at the thought, and the death grip that had been put on fawn shoulders loosened.

"Sonic…"

The dark hedgehog's knees met the soft carpeting of Tails' living room, and the rest of the ebony body slumped forward in defeat. A striped, quilled head rested on top of a peach chest. The Ultimate Lifeform tried to let the feeble rise and fall of Sonic's chest soothe him, but it only made everything sink in deeper. A short, strangled noise escaped Shadow's throat, muffled by his counterpart's fur.

Everything was too unreal… there's no way he could've hurt the blue hedgehog this badly… The dark one squeezed his eyes shut, hot tears sneaking their way out and into the downy peach fur. This is exactly what the midnight hedgehog had been afraid of from the start, this is why he had avoided making relationships for so long… His shoulders shook as muffled, silent sobs wracked his body.

In a moment of silence, the dark one felt Sonic's chest expand and release under his head once more…

And then it stopped.

xoxox

A/N:

But wait, there's more…

This isn't the end, still one more chapter to go! Please review + follow?


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